If I Fell
by Lunnar-Eclipse
Summary: "Underneath the city lights, there is a world few know about where rules don't apply, and you can't keep a good girl down."
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

As I awoke to another day in my life, the light streaming through the windows, the stillness gave me time to reflect on myself. To reflect the things that made me the woman I am today. I shifted my gaze from the wooden roof, to the peaceful form of my sleeping husband, his black hair laying in a mess around his face. I smile lightly, and look back up at the roof, remembering the events that took place all those years ago. My thoughts wondered to Robin, and one of the most inspiring things he had ever said to me; _the choices we make now, define us for eternity. _I hadn't seen him, any of the old gang in ages, and I wondered if they ever thought of me, my welfare, and my future. I closed my eyes, and my thoughts wandered towards that eventful night ten years ago.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Menace of Vanity

"One more time," He said; his voice a monotone and filled with boredom. "No David, this is the fifth time that I've started the song over from the beginning—can't I just go and rest? The more strain that I put on my voice, the worse it will sound and I know you don't want that to happen." I retort, feeling my annoyance get the best of me. David rolled his eyes at my little rant and simply made his way towards yet another member. "You're lucky he did not punish you this time," A petite girl beside me, Demaris, whispered; her honey colored eyes shifting to make sure their keeper wasn't listening.

"Demaris, it's nothing. I just gave him some helpful advice. If this grand place we're going to is as high and mighty as he says, I think my voice should sound its most beautiful if he wants to make the most money possible." Demaris opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by David strolling over and snapping at her, "Demaris, how about you practice your dance routine one more time, huh? Need to make sure that it's perfect, am I right?" Demaris huffed, but did not argue. Instead, she did as she was told, stretched out and then began her routine.

I had always admired Demaris' dancing; it was always so beautiful and graceful, and she seemed to make the routine David had planned out for her seem so easy, while really, it was most confusing. Demaris did her twirls, her leg kicks and her head flips all while looking so beautiful while doing so; her long brown and black hair flailing behind her with each movement. To me, it seems very fascinating that not _one_ of use has been discovered, or as we like to call it: saved. We all are very talented, but I guess it's due to the fact that David won't let any of us go—he is rather selfish, and he barely spends any of the money he earns on us. Spends it more likely on 'decent' wenches and new weapons…

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a shrill, yet short scream of pain. Demaris was on the dusty floor, clutching her right foot. My eyes whirled around and saw David merely standing there, telling her that 'it was fine and she could still dance.' I knew better than his ignorant self and ran over to what was wrong. I kneeled down and took her foot in my hand to see that she had cracked her toe nail and that it was bleeding profusely. "It's just a cracked nail; I'll be able to dance when we leave David…" Demaris mumbled, as some form of an apology. I bit my tongue to keep myself from saying anything, and helped Demaris up, walking her away from David.

Demaris sat down on a rock, and I pulled a piece of cloth from my breast area and tied up her toe. "Is that all you can do?" She mumbled, and I nodded my apologetic 'yes'. "I'm sorry Demaris, but I think that David isn't going to give us much—maybe some water, but that will probably be it." Demaris simply nodded, and hobbled her way away from me and towards David.

"No, now you have to tell me—is this _wonderful _place really as wonderful as you say it is, Zoe?" Justice, another member slurred, spilling her whine all over the dusty Earth. Zoe, another dancer of the group grinned stupidly, her face flushed from the alcohol that she herself, had already drunk. "I am absolutely positive. David told me that this place was well known and there would even be a prince there!" She then burst into a fit of giggles and bumped into Demaris, causing the two to fall to the floor. I rolled my eyes at their behavior and glanced near the tent, making sure that David wasn't coming out. "I think you lot should try and keep it down—wouldn't want David to come out, now would we?" But even that sort of threat couldn't alter their attitudes at the moment; they were all drunk and bubbly. "Oh come on, lighten up! It's time to have fun before our 'big day' tomorrow." Justice snorted, and took another long chug of her whine. "Acting like drunken wenches will not help us achieve anything." I snapped back, Zoe rolling her eyes. "Stop being such a pessimist," She slurred back, leaning against me for support. I shoved her off and she went tumbling to the ground in a giggling heap. _This is so childish, I don't even see why I'm still here sitting next to these bumbling idiots. _I sighed and got up: leaving the 'fun' that the group I had lived with for the past five years had started.

The following morning, we all awoke bright and early, and were now all packed into a small carriage. We rocked back and forth on the bumpy road, banging our heads on the rough wood or receiving cuts from the splinters. "Does anyone know how long we're going to be traveling?" Zoe, asked, clutching her head in her hands. "No, but I do hope that we arrive there soon—this road is awful…as is this headache." Demaris mumbled, folding her arms to her chest. I smirked cruelly in response to this. "I tried to stop you all from drinking too much and none of you listened." Justice narrowed her eyes at me. "Don't need to be smug about it." She hissed back, lying down on the floor trying to get some sleep. I simply sighed and tried focusing my mind on something else—anything other than focusing on this miserable ride.

Eventually, the carriage came to a stop, and we heard the chatter of people and the whining of horses. Soon, the door of the carriage flew open and we were greeted by two people; one of them was David, and the other was a short, balding man wearing fine black robes. "Ladies, let me introduce you to the sheriff of this fine area," David said grinning like an idiot. The sheriff grinned as well, peering into the dark and dingy carriage. "Well, what are you all doing still standing in there? Come on out and let us see you lot." The sheriff snapped, the four of us making our quick haste out of the carriage.

The fresh clean air felt wonderful to breathe in and the sunlight felt great against my skin. The town that we were to perform in was large, and bustling with people. They were civilians selling items, guards stalking down the stone pathways, and a few feet in front of us lay the large wooden doors leading into the great castle. "Well aren't you a pretty little thing?" The sheriff hissed in front of me. I had to keep myself from grimacing and just looked in another direction.

"Will the performance go as planned?" The sheriff inquired David, he quickly nodding 'yes' in reply. "Of course, my lord—in fact I think you should get yourself and whoever else you'd like to attend ready because we will be performing soon." I gave David a strange look and almost said something, but held my tongue; waiting until we were dismissed from the sheriff's presence to say something.

"Well ladies, you'll be getting ready in a room inside the castle so I suggest we make haste," David snapped, leading us all through the courtyard and through a door. "Get ready, we'll be performing in ten minutes." He then gave us a curt nod, and shut the door quietly.

"Ten minutes? How the hell are we supposed to get ready in that short amount of time?" Demaris said, exasperated. "Just watch the master at work," I replied smirking, hulling out a large leather trunk that David had brought along. I opened it, and inside contained all of our dresses and what you could consider as 'jewelry'. I looked through the array of old and tattered dresses and pulled out a bright, orange dress that flowed. I glance at it, nodded and then threw it at Demaris. "There, a dress for you." Demaris smiled lightly and quickly put it on.

Soon, Zoe and Justice began searching for dresses as well, until they, along with Demaris were all ready. "Come on, you need to get ready now: David could be here any minute." Zoe said anxiously, jumping up and down. "Calm down Zoe, Jesus…" I whispered, shuffling through and soon finding a bright red dress. It fit me perfectly and it hugged my body in all of the right places. It wasn't too short, nor was it too long. For me, it looked just right. I walked over towards a large mirror in the room and fixed my frizzy hair, and then revealed a golden necklace that I hid under my clothes. Zoe walked over and smiled lightly. "That is a very beautiful necklace, where did you get it?" I fiddled with the charm at the end and smiled as well. "I can't remember, but I've had it ever since I was little."

No sooner than I had begun admiring myself, that David burst through the door, grinning stupidly. "Come, it is time—you are first of course, my dear." I sighed, and rubbed my eyes, trying to get rid of the nerves that were attacking my body. David opened the door for me, and I followed him out into the courtyard, where there was absolutely no one in sight. I wondered why no one was outside, but David continued walking forward, so I followed. He led me into the castle, and through many different halls until he stopped, brushing off his vest before opening the doors to let me in.

The room itself was gorgeous; high ceiling, a large, ornate table in the middle and beautiful crests decorating the walls. The scene that stood in front of me was what made me so nervous and anxious; there sat the sheriff, along with some other people who I've never seen of before. One man seemed the most important, since he was sitting at a throne. He had curly blond hair and a beard to go with it. He grinned maliciously when I entered, and whispered something to the sheriff which made him grin stupidly. There was only one other women in the room besides me, and she sat next to the most 'important' one there. She had long, curly brown hair and light green eyes. The last one in there, sitting next to the sheriff, was another man. He had long black hair, and light gray eyes. He was completely clad in black. I just stood there, waiting for an introduction or, something.

The sheriff was the one to do it, and clapped his hands together. "Ah the entertainment has arrived!" The 'important' man smirked once again and raised a goblet to his lips. "Oh sheriff, you didn't have to get me this," He laughed, and swallowed the liquid. "No by all means sire, we need to make your stay here it's most pleasant, that is why we allowed David here to bring his wonderful band of women." The sheriff smiled greedily, the other man nodding in reply. "Oh how charming. So, what does this one do?" "Ah, well—David?" David smirked, as he stepped up. "This one here is one of my favorites. Her voice is like a sirens and send you into a—how do you call it? Trance, that's it…she sends most of her listeners into a trance once she begins to sing." The 'important' man smiled, full out enjoying this little piece of information. "Well then my dear, begin when you want."

I smiled lightly and stepped up, seeing David make his way towards the table and sit next to the man in black. The man grimaced slightly, but simply ignored David when he spoke to him and re-focused his attention to me. _Okay, this can't be too hard to sing in front of these people, can it? They're just like any other crowd. Just—take a deep breath, relax your mind and sing from the soul._ I nodded and took one last breath before opening my mouth to sing,

_Memories that fade away have not left their mark, but you live on every single day in many different ways, it's the truth between his cunning lies, that hand him his suspicious alibis, persuading with your force will never be the way to our destiny…_

When I re-opened my eyes to see how I had done, I was greeted by surprised expressions and awed faces. I stepped back, and allowed David to continue the talking. He smirked gleefully and made his way to the front where I stood, getting in front of me almost immediately afterwards. "Well, what did you think?" No one said anything, but then the other woman spoke, "That was absolutely gorgeous. Why have you been hiding from us for all these years?" She joked, making the 'important' one laugh stupidly. "Yes, she is rather extraordinary…how much do you want for her?"

"What?" That one word had escaped not only the lips of David, but the lips of the other woman and the sheriff. "What are you all gawking at me for—is it a crime to buy such a wonderful entertainer from a man like _him_?" David flinched when the man referred to him in that way. "I supposed not…" The sheriff mumbled, clearly opposed to the idea of me being bought. "I am the prince, am I not? I can do whatever I please," He snapped at the sheriff. _Wait—prince? Prince John? Oh no…of all people that I had to perform in front of, why did it have to be him? I had a bad feeling about this when I entered and now it's too late… Well, the upside is I don't have to deal with David anymore._

The prince walked up towards David and dropped ten crowns into his hand. "Will that be enough?" David looked down at his hand in shock. "O-of course it will be sire. Th—thank you!" He sputtered out, pocketing the cash greedily. "She's all yours," He gave me one last grin and then was off. The prince smirked in triumph and took my hand. "Now my dear, that you belong to me, could you at least tell me your name?" I had to force myself not to slap him. I was thinking to myself, why not scream, "You're your _property _now? I am not an object, I am a woman and I do not care if you are prince of England itself—I will be treated with respect!" But, I just said this all in my head so no one heard it but me.

"Well, come on then, what's your name?" The prince hissed; the slight bit of impatience in his voice. "Jo, my name is Jo." I replied back, trying to keep my patience at bay as well. "Is that it? That's not just an abbreviation for something?" I rolled my eyes at the prince and replied, "My full name is Joanna." The prince then smiled. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" He took my hand and led me to the table, making me sit where David had once sat. "Now that I am satisfied, sheriff, would you let David know that I do no longer need his little circus here?" The sheriff nodded and snapped his fingers, a guard walking over and soon running off after his task was given.

"So, who's hungry?" The prince joked, earning only a few chuckles from the woman and the sheriff. The man next to me seemed rather uncomfortable at the moment, and I wondered if it was from just being in here or was it sitting next to the sheriff. Either way, I didn't want to be here either. Food soon arrived but, I wasn't hungry. _Well, you wanted to get 'saved' from David and you did—but, this is really what I had imagined…_


End file.
